


when the growing pains subside

by Mars_and_Moon



Series: to have the three of us be victorious (is something out of a dream) [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: BAMF Klaus Hargreeves, F/M, Gen, Jade Vega Just Wants Two Seconds of Relaxation, M/M, Parenthood, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Sequel, Tired Ben Hargreeves, Universe Alteration, dad klaus? dad klaus, read the first one if only to give me validation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-06 03:57:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18843151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mars_and_Moon/pseuds/Mars_and_Moon
Summary: At some point before the loud exclamation of their adoptive fathers death, Nikolas had noticed that he wasactuallytalking to the air and had turned around, and was now pulling on his shirt and giving Ben a dirty look at the swear word; normally Klaus would laugh and give Ben a fake lecture, but he was a bit distracted becauseReginald was dead.Fuck. This probably meant Klaus would have to go to his funeral.





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> are you ready to rumbleeeeeeeeee
> 
> notes: there will not be an updating schedule, because exams are coming up and i need to not flunk two out of four classes. also, same warnings for the show; violence and like other stuff. and the chapter count is more off a guess then anything. 
> 
> please enjoy my self indulgence

_ March 23th, 2019.  _

Klaus had been leaving an art store with Nikolas when he hears the news. They were going on a trip for Nikky’s birthday this year; Jade had been planning it minute by minute for almost a year, and she insisted that they would not being getting him other presents because the trip was expensive, and  _ yes that means you too Ben.  _

Klaus had never been one for rules, even by his very scary blue haired co-parent. Beside, Nikolas had been eyeing a fancy paint set for the past few weeks. He didn't ask for it--he knew that the trip was his present and wouldn't be getting anything except maybe cake, and gift shop items--because he was like that. A good kid, who knew that he couldn't get everything he wanted, but his parents would try their best.

And if Jade wanted to be angry--which she wouldn't be, she would put on a show for a little bit, but it never lasted--Klaus would happily blame Ben, with his encouragement, and Nikolas’s longingly silent glance. And maybe remind Jade that the ghosts had been acting up for Nikolas; and he was nothing if not supportive of his son and understanding of his struggles. Asking himself  _ “what would Reginald do?”  _ then doing the exact opposite.

They had just left the art store and were walking to the nearest bus stop, because Klaus couldn't drive. Ben could, but he was dead, and Klaus wasn't in the mood to keep him solid enough to drive somewhere. 

Because yeah, Klaus could make ghosts solid beings. He could float too. Sometimes he moved things with his mind. All of which was pretty cool. Thanks, sobriety. 

So while they were walking to the bus stop, Nikolas was talking about some book a friend had told him about-- said book was very high above his grade level, christ on a cracker how did this kid end up like this. He'd like to blame Ben and his stupid fun facts--and thought maybe that Jade might like it too.

Then Klaus was staring at an abandoned newspaper that had gotten caught on his shoe. It was drenched from the rain yesterday, but the headline was readable: 

_ World's Most Exclusive Adventure/Billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves Found Dead _

Which, great. Good for Reggie. Kindly stay that way. Don't come back and annoy Klaus or Ben. Or even, heaven forbid, Nikolas. Stay in hell, or purgatory, or wherever people went when they didn't stick around to haunt people. 

Klaus was standing there, and Nikolas was a few steps in front of him. Still talking about painting or books or whatever--does it make Klaus a bad father to not listen to his kid? He normally did, but sometimes he couldn’t make sense of what Nikky was saying. 

Wait, was that what his siblings felt like growing up when Klaus started talking about something? Granted, Klaus talked to block out the ghosts, can’t see listen to them if you never shut up. 

He was brought out of his staring and standing in the middle of the sidewalk when Ben all but shouted in his ear: “Does that say Reginald fucking  _ died _ ?” 

At some point before the loud exclamation of their adoptive fathers death, Nikolas had noticed that he was  _ actually  _ talking to the air and had turned around, and was now pulling on his shirt and giving Ben a dirty look at the swear word; normally Klaus would laugh and give Ben a fake lecture, but he was a bit distracted because  _ Reginald was dead _ . 

Fuck. This probably meant Klaus would have to go to his funeral. And of course he had to bring Ben with him, maybe make him visible for a few minutes, mostly as as fuck you to Luther. 

And then there was Jade. Fuck, she would want to come. If only to spit on Reginald’s grave. Though the blue haired lady had never met the man in the ten years she had known Klaus, he swore she hated him more then he did. Which Klaus wouldn’t believe if he hadn’t seen the venom in her glare whenever the man was mentioned; whether by Klaus and Ben, or on TV.

That left Nikolas. Almost ten years old and has never met his any of his alive aunts and uncles. God, he would love the house--would literally run up and down the halls smiling--something Klaus had never been able to do. Ben would exposing all of Klaus’ child-friendly secrets. Like the time he had painted his door a horrendous shade of orange to spite Reginald.

It might be worth at least asking for the day off work. Worth the hour and a half drive to the academy with Nikolas talking about art class and books with Ben. 

Then again. 

Luther would be there. The good child soldier he was, even though last Klaus heard he was on the moon or something. But it was Luther, he’d find a way.

Diego would be there, probably as an excuse to see Mom. And to hate Dad. Probably with his stupid vigilante costume.

Allison would be there, if only because the press would drag her through hell if she wasn't at her father's funeral. She wouldn't have Claire though, Klaus had seen in the gossip magazines that she had gotten divorced and lost the custody battle.

Vanya was a mystery. After her whole book thing she might not feel safe; which Klaus didn't blame her for, because knowing Diego he had not taken well to the book and would probably have knives on him. 

“You think Luther’ll ask you to conjure Reginald?” Ben asked suddenly. He had a shit eating grin on his face, which,  _ rude _ .  Twelve years. Klaus had spent the last twelve years dealing with this.

Klaus sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed again. He did not have the time for this, he had to get his son home before Jade got worried. Even though that was supposed to be his forte, Then Klaus had to go to work, groceries wouldn’t check themselves out; way to many people needed ice cream, booze, and CDs at 8:00pm.

Later--he would deal with all of the information about Reginald and funerals and siblings later. After work and a platonic cuddle session with Jade. 

  
  


+++++++

  
  


Later was apparently two in the morning, with a semi-crying Nikolas and two newly empty bowls of ice cream. The TV on low so they wouldn't wake up Jade, and they were halfway through some documentary on street art.

Ben stood near the back, eyeing anything that looked suspicious and/or ghost like. Like the good old guardian ghost brother and uncle he was. 

God. It fucking killed Klaus when nights like these happened. Ghosts loud enough to seep into Nikky’s dreams. Making his son scream and cry. Fuck powers. Like seriously, let his son sleep. 

Klaus heard the phone ring, and he happily left to pick it up. Anything to get out of the documentary.

He loved his son, understood the ghost could be terrifying beyond comprehension; but how and why did he have become so entrapped with the art world?

Klaus wasn't one to judge interests, considering he had an encyclopedic like knowledge of Freddie Mercury and Queen. But, he couldn't talk about art! Jade couldn't talk about art! Neither could Ben! How the hell had Nikky gotten so into  _ art _ .

He picked up phone, heard a voice speak for about three seconds, and hung up immediately. 

Klaus could feel that Ben was throwing him a confused look--but whatever. Pogo was on the other end and Klaus was definitely in no mood to talk to him  _ or _ to talk about his father. Because what else would Pogo be calling about. 

How the hell had Pogo even gotten his number? Nobody in the family even knew Klaus had a phone number. Granted, none of them had cared that he had one. But that wasn't the point.

The phone rang again.

Goddammit, Pogo, there was someone trying to sleep in the house. Klaus let out a long sigh and picked the phone up. He could already feel the regret forming.

“Master Klaus,” Pogo said. “Thank you for picking up.” 

Klaus had to restrain himself from making some snide comment. Instead he tried to go for at least a little niceness. 

“What's up, Pogo-Pop!” Should have stuck with snide comments, even he was willing to admit that was too much. And judging by the sharp exhale Pogo was not impressed. 

“I’m sure you are aware of why I am calling.”

He was? Oh shit, Reginald. He's dead. Funeral. Siblings.  _ Fuck _ his life honestly. Pogo was still talking too--asking Klaus if he would be attending the funeral, explaining that Reginald had wanted them all there, which kind of sounded suspicious because the little bit of the article he had read said it was an unexpected heart attack? Lord, he was too tired for this conversation.

“--And be sure to wear appropriate clothing tomorrow, Master Klaus.” 

_ Wait a fucking minute. _ “Tomorrow? This is happening tomorrow?” Klaus so did not have a life where he could just drop everything. He figured maybe it’d be the day after. 

When had Reginald kicked the bucket anyway? Like, yesterday? What was with the instant funeral, it’s not like he had somewhere to be. Maybe Pogo figured none of them would show up if it happened later, which wasn’t wrong but still did he not think about the fact that they had  _ lives _ ?

Klaus was greeted with silence to his question, Pogo having hung up before the question had even been formed in his brain. Great. Wonderful. Time to swallow his pride and possibly get murdered by his co-parent for waking her up at almost three am. 

And then find the most inappropriate funeral outfit ever. With the help of his son, of course. 

  
  



	2. just a temporary thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> almost 3000 words of no plot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i legit was planning on making the plot start but.....that didn't happen.

_March 24th, 2019._

The academy had somehow become more intimidating. The metal gates seemed more like the gates to hell then to Klaus’ childhood...not home. But the place where he had grown up with his siblings. Fuck, was it too late to just not show up to the funeral? He was pretty sure nobody had seen him. He could take Nikolas to the old donut place the seven of them used to sneak out to.

He felt Jade squeeze his hand and saw her eyes locked onto the umbrella in the center of the gate. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her look more terrifying; and yes, that includes several greatest hits such as telling him she was pregnant, the time he’d accidentally forgotten to come home for three days, and the time he had let Nikolas talk him into seeing an advance screening of one of Allison’s movies, at midnight.

Nikolas of course was staring up at the house in complete wonder. And maybe that melted Klaus’ heart a little, and maybe that gave him enough courage to actually open the gate and walk up the steps to the giant wood and glass doors, pushing them open as well. The front foyer--the front foyer was bigger than their apartment. And for some reason Klaus felt painfully aware of that fact as he watched Nikolas take in the house.

Ben was standing, silent, and invisible to everyone but Klaus and Nikolas. He too watched Nikolas gape at the house in wonder. As smart as Nikky was, he was still a ten year old kid who was barely staying on the other side of the poverty line.

Klaus heard two pairs of footsteps walking towards the group. More voices sniping at each other from farther away.

He took a deep breath. Now came the actual hard part of all of this, telling his siblings about the... _situation_ he had found himself in for the last ten years. He tugged on the sequin skirt he found himself in, if only because of Nikolas’ request. It was alarmingly pink and Klaus was ninety-percent sure it actually belonged to Jade, but she hadn’t said anything. And really, it hardly mattered who the clothes started off belonging to at this point.

Klaus hadn’t been joking when he said he would be wearing the most inappropriate clothing he could find on short notice to the funeral. It’s not like Reginald had done anything in life to actually make Klaus respect him in death.

“Klaus?” There was Allison, in all her superstar actress glory. Her hair was blonder then when Klaus had last seen her--granted that had been a screen but still. Ben had shifted his focus from Nikolas to Allison, Jade was giving her a once over, and Nikolas was smiling.

Klaus didn’t see who the second set of footsteps had belonged to. There was nobody behind or beside Allison.

They should have gone out for ice cream, or donuts, or _anything else_. He couldn’t do this. Allison would probably resent him for still having his kid while she didn’t. The junkie had custody over his kid and the women who could get whatever she wanted didn’t.

“Klaus? What’s with the--” She made a gesture at Jade and Nikolas; she was smiling but it seemed forced.

Klaus forced a smile right back at her, Allison might be the actress but Klaus could keep up with the best of them. Whether that came from parenting, or PTA meetings with Stacey and her fake tan, or the time he spent homeless and pumped full of drugs. It didn’t matter, what matter was, he was standing there and there were introductions to make.

He cleared his throat. Time to use humor as a coping mechanism. “Allison! I was actually hoping to catch you! This is my son Nikolas--” He pointed at his son, who gave a very real smile and a very excited wave. “He loves your work and wants an autograph!” He could physically feel Jade roll her eyes, but Nikky perked up at the suggestion.

“Your...your son?”

An over the top nod. “Yup! And this my...this is my Jade!” He pointed at Jade, who had stopped her analyzing of Allison and instead was giving Klaus a very unimpressed look. Had he really just call her _his_ Jade? Yeah, he did. Mostly because it was the first child-friendly introduction of her he thought of.

In his defense, the two had never actually discussed the nature of their relationship. Everyone at Nikky’s school assumed they were married. Ben still thought they were screwing on the down low. Nikky didn’t care, they were just his parents. So, they just sort of rolled with whatever the current person called them.

Allison was staring at the group with an unimpressed yet highly confused look. This was going as well as expected, and it had been less then ten minutes since Klaus had stepped foot into the place.

“Allison! Was it Klaus at the door?” And that would be the owner of the second pair of footsteps. None other than good old Luther; Klaus didn’t know why he was even surprised at this point.

“Dear Luther! I was just getting on with the introductions!” Klaus was being too much. More extra then he had been in a while. But it would be best to ease his siblings into his semi-adult life, rather then slap them in the face with it.

Luther stepped into full view and...what the _fuck_ were they giving him on the moon? When had he gotten that big? Klaus did not get to ask these questions before Luther was launching into his own questions. Surprisingly not about Jade or Nikolas, but more so about why Klaus had shown up late.

Which, gave Klaus a good minute or two to regain the composure he had lost after seeing Luther and all the growing he had done. That moment of peace was, of course, quickly ended. Luther had trailed off on whatever he was saying and instead was gawking at Jade and Nikolas.

Fuck his life, honestly.

 

+++++++

 

Nikolas had loudly stated to everyone else that he wanted to explore the house and trailed behind Ben, who was acting as his ghostly tour guide. Ben was also wearing a smug smile on his face as he did so, because that bastard didn’t have to attend whatever probable family meeting was about to take place.

Klaus _had_ tried to say fuck family meetings under the bias of making sure his son didn’t getting lost, but Jade had pulled him by the sleeve of his coat as she followed Luther into the living room. Allison followed behind the pair.

Klaus could already tell how badly this would end. Luther and Jade would not be getting along, and with of of Luther’s...Luther-ness he would say something stupid and give Jade a good enough reason to punch him in the face. Which Klaus was more then okay with--lord knew that Luther need a good punch or two--but he would rather that not be the first impression of the women he had spent the past ten years living with.

It turns out Vanya had deemed it safe enough to show up, although Diego was throwing the occasional glare her way. But both had become more focused on Klaus and the strangers he had brought with him.

Allison was the first to break the silence that had fallen over the living room. “So…you have a wife and a kid?” Something which was most likely supposed to be a statement came out as a question. Not that Klaus could blame her, it was a bit...much to take in without warning.

But that wasn’t really his fault? He tried to get in contact with his siblings once or twice--back when Nikolas was younger, when he couldn’t make Ben corporal for more than a minute--but they hung up within a few minutes. Claiming an excuse; he gets that he wasn’t the favorite sibling, but damn.

It didn’t help that Klaus had blindly grabbed for Jade’s hand once fully underneath his siblings confused glances. Sue him, he found comfort in her. But interlocked fingers, and a kid, and an entire life together looked like--

“We’re not married. Or dating. Or together romantically, or sexually.” Leave it to Jade to beat him to the punch. “We’re just...we’re friends. Well, _more_ than friends. But we’re not together like that. And Nikolas wasn’t exactly planned, he happened after a hookup.”

Luther looked about ten times more confused. Under normal circumstances, Klaus would definitely make a joke. But this was not a normal circumstance, this was Klaus-Has-A-Surprise-Kid.

Allison tilted her head and look back and forth between the two of them. Which was, a lot of confused energy within the look.

Jade said fuck it and broke the weird silence by shouting: “Klaus is wearing my old skirt!”

So it _was_ definitely her’s then. Allison let out a choked laugh, Diego rolled his eyes but almost in a fond way, and Vanya hid a smile behind her hand.

For a few fleeting seconds it was good. It could have gone over well. They all could’ve met Nikky and enjoyed the day as much as they could, maybe talk shit about Reggie. Jade probably would’ve bonded with mom, maybe Vanya or Diego. It could have gone over so well.

But, Luther decided to say something stupid: “You let a junkie around your kid?”

Which, okay. Klaus couldn’t hold it super against him. He wasn’t aware that Klaus was sober, that he would rather die than be high around his son. And that Jade would kill him if he showed up high around their son. So he was going to calmly explain all of these facts, because yeah, Luther is a dick, but he was mostly well meaning.

But fuck _,_ fuck, and one more fuck. Jade was going to _kill_ Luther, no question. She might not be the over protective type, but she was definitely not the person you insult her family in front of. It actually takes a lot to work Jade into full blown rant mode. She was more of a “kill them with a few well timed words, and angry eye contact”. But bringing up Klaus or Jade’s struggles with addiction? That meant burning anger and possible shouting matches. 

Maybe it was a good thing Ben and Nikolas had fucked off to explore; because Luther was dead. It’d be a double funeral today.

Jade let go of his hand. Calmly walked up to Luther. Gave him a smile that was usually reserved for PTA moms and shitty customers in the diner. Then began to lose her mind on him.  

“How dare you? How dare you for one minute think that--not only that would Klaus spend these past ten years high as a kite around a child, but that I would _allow_ him to do so!” Luther didn’t react to the blue-haired lady yelling at him. He stood there, shock on his face as she continued. “He had worked endlessly to stay sober; I have calmed him down from nightmare after nightmare because that ghosts were that bad! And you dare imply that Klaus would willing torture himself for _nothing_? ”

Luther tried to say something this time, but didn’t even get a syllable out. “Klaus is--he deserves _more_ than this! He is a fucking brilliant father, a better one than any of you ever even got to see! You think your brother--the kindest, bravest, most selfless man I have ever met--would let himself be around a child in that state? Trust me, _Luther_ he would rather actually die!”

Diego looked like a kid on Christmas. Vanya had curled into herself even more in the spot on the couch. Allison looked like she wanted to intervene, but also wanted to see how this played out. Klaus was more exasperated then anything, which he showed via moving over to Jade and pulling her away from Luther.

Could he have one semi-normal day? Without someone almost being murdered?

“Dad! Dad! Uncle Ben wants you to make him real!” Nikolas shouted. Nikolas who was _supposed_ to be away from the living room and listening to Ben exaggerate all the embarrassing moments Klaus had when he was younger.

“What does ‘ _make Ben real_ ’ mean?” Allison asked.

Yeah. One semi-normal day, never going to happen apparently.

 

 

+++++++

 

 

Klaus had left. He had made Ben corporal, grabbed Nikolas by the hand, grabbed Reginald’s ashes, and walked out of the living room. No more family meetings, no more ghostly brother, no more angry blue-haired co-parents. Klaus was going to show Nikolas the few good things of this place--but first stop was his old room, he guaranteed he had clothes that would still fit him somewhere in his old closest.

Nikky, was completely on board with this. He had zero concept of what actually looked nice together--Klaus didn’t really ether but that was more by choice--but he loved looking at all of it. He used to ask Klaus to give him lipstick when he was younger. Because, fuck gender y’know?

“Hey, dad?” Nikolas asked, running his hands over an old shirt--black and blue and torn around the edges--watching as Klaus dug through his closet.

“Yeah, Nikky?”

“How come we’ve never hung out with the rest of your family before today?”

That made Klaus falter for a moment. But--“You know how sometimes one of us gets nightmare’s from the ghosts?” Nikolas gave a small nod. “And you know how when I was younger I used to try and make them quiet with alcohol and other stuff?” Another small nod. “Well, my siblings--your aunts and uncles--didn’t really like it. And sometimes when I did see them, I would steal things. They didn’t really trust me because of that--and a whole bunch other other reasons that your mom would kill me if I told you about. So we just, lost touch.”

Nikky dropped the shirt and walked the few steps over to Klaus. “Hey dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we explore the house more?”

“Of course! We’re going to explore the kitchen first,” Klaus gave Nikky a _very_ exaggerated look. “Lest I, your dear father, starves to _death_!” He flopped onto the pile of clothes they had made.

Nikolas let out a laugh, and tried to pull him up, Klaus finally gave in and allowed himself to be pulled. He hoped mom had somewhat kept the kitchen stocked, because he was actually hungry. And Nikky deserved something sweet, no reason, Klaus just really loved his kid.

Maybe that’s why he was dragging Reginald’s ashes around. As a fuck you, _this is how you're supposed to treat children_ ; _not looking them in mausoleum,_ Reggie.

 

+++++++

 

_“....Children behave. That’s what they say when we’re together…”_

 

+++++++

 

So.

Number Five wasn’t dead.

Hooray?


End file.
